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Dawn Flarewing
'Dawn Flarewing' Dawn Flarewing is a century-young pixie sun soul monk being played by Queuevian Cypher. Biography In the eternal summerlands of the feywild, upon the plains that border the radiant firewinds of the elemental chaos, the fey constantly battle the elemental incursions of their planar neighbors. Compact fortresses and flowing towers shield enclaves of fey wildlife and denizens equally from firestorms and windraids and even primordial servants that try to ravage the area in a bid to invade the feylands beyond. More than just elves and eladrin defend this land, though. Thanks to the collision of the two planes, faeries have made their home among the summerlands as well. Winds have carried sylphs across the border and they've become fast friends with scholars and spellcasters. The hardy flora and warriors' blood have spawns legions of sprites eager to defend their homeland. And residual magics of both the fey and elements have spawned pixie groves across the region. The Flarewing grove, a small orchard of pitahaya, is one of the more unique of the noble pixie groves. Born fully grown from the dragonfruit flowers, rather than the traditional gossamer butterfly wings filled with color and vibrancy, the Flarewings are narrower, and share the delicate transparency of sprite's dragonfly wings. There is still a touch of color, a pulse of red or orange, a sign of of the summerlands, but why the Flarewings have such a unique wing design has been a mystery for ages. There are some of the Flarewing nobles who dedicate their life to studying the mystery. Most, however, prefer to embrace the uniqueness as a sign of noble authority over the sprits and sylphs, and have spent centuries integrating themselves thusly. The Flarewing that would name himself Dawn, after a few decades of carefree life traveling across the summerlands and learning of its traditions and peoples, decided to enter military service to help protect his home. Intending to one day to lead a regiment of Thorns--a sprite brigade--he decided to join the rather reclusive Summerweir Monastary. The heart of monastic training for the faeries at Summerweir was "death by a thousand stings," with the intent that each regiment would strike an enemy as one, and though small, even a Thorn of sprites could take down colossal enemies. However, training for such a task can take anywhere from three to six decades, especially for one born not from blood and battle. As one of the few pixies in training, Flarewing shed much of his noble bearing in order to fit in with an initially resentful cadre of sprites. It took decades of perseverance, but his willingness to be humiliated by the mentors as an example as well as his mastery of the juggling game Shon'ai--a required training system for catching projectiles--made him a surprisingly popular member of the monastery. After his thirty-fifth training year, he was even branded as an honorary sprite by his fellow trainees, something that did make him a bit unpopular among his own pixie brethren. Still, he never forgot his heritage nor his goal, and when new trainees arrived at the monastery, he was always there to offer some advice and train those that were eager to learn; though some resentment still lingered until they got to know him. Time in the feywild is literally relative, and the Summerweir Monastary took advantage of the decades that passed within their walls to prepare their students to follow a myriad of paths as they fought and adapted to battles outside. The Way of the Wasp for those striking their enemies directly. The Way of Night to strike down enemies from the shadow. The Way of Elements to shape the power of elements against chaos. And the Way of Sun to unleash magical strikes from range. Flarewing absorbed it all, knowing that as the leader of Thorns, the Ways of Night and Elements would distance himself from his regimen. He was eager to swarm and strike, and studied by the Ways of Wasp and Sun in great detail. After decades of studying, with the sutras internalized and commendations for both fighting skill and leadership, along with sprites eager to join him in battle, he prepared for his final test, something the mentors would prepare and present to their students that challenged all of their skills in preparation for the unknown dangers the elemental chaos could unleash. The night before, after a rousing game of Shon'ai and wishing luck to his fellow monks, he found in his room--his own solitary dwelling, as other pixie nobles insisted be done for all in the Monastery--an ornate box with an obsidian torc inside. It was warm to the touch and had runes carved into the surface, though they weren't legible. The note, however, stated it was a gift for him: a commendation from his sprite brethren in expectation of his success the next day as well as a symbol of authority for when he became the leader of their Thorn. Flarewing thought it a little premature, but saw it as the final acceptance among the monks. Obsidian was common debris of battles with elemental forces, and many a sprite commander carved armor and trinkets from the unwanted rocks. To be gifted such a piece was a great honor, and he put it on, enjoying the warmth even as he settled for sleep. He awoke in a strange land just before the sun rose. This was not the feywild. This was not the summerlands of his home nor the elemental chaos that belonged to his enemies. He was alone, no allies, no mentors. Just him and his skills in, he realized from stories he'd heard, the land of mortals. Summerwier Monastary was well protected, he couldn't be summoned or forced beyond its walls except by great magic or by the mentors themselves. It was then he realized this was it. This was his test: to survive the mortal world and find his way home. Though his 100th birthday was still days away, he decided to complete his Rite to Adulthood early and named himself Dawn, as the most significant challenge of his life was heralded by the sun rising on a strange world. Beyond that he remembered nothing, until he realized he wasn't an assistant manager in a strange business, but a pixie with a challenge to fulfill, and strange allies that may or may not suffice to be his Thorn until he could return home. Game Events Working with the mortals he "awoke" with in the orc illusion, he's been learning a bit about the mortal world, and being dispelled of misconceptions over orcs and kobolds. His attempts to explain the feywild have been med with confusion or frustration, but he's well aware the mortal mind isn't really meant for such comprehension without being exceptionally resilient or breaking just a touch. He's also on a mission to find some dull swords that are key to some sort of great spell related to the mundane illusion spell he himself was bespelled by. The monks who have sent his troupe on this mission aren't quite trustworthy, but with little other way to discover how he was abducted and ensorcelled he's following along. However, some of the actions of his mortal companions are circumspect, and he's vowed to be a little more vigilant to prevent excessive cruelty to their enemies in the future. In Ponydale, however, he discovered a book with an inscription left by their goddess Luminace directed to him: "They say you can't go home again, but home is what you make of it. Though, seriously, don't try to go to that place you think of home again." Coming across magical books with messages before, Dawn's only question was whether this was from a trickster, an enemy, or an ally. However, a battle in the dreamrealm where his creator goddess, the Unicorn Queen, stood beside Luminace to fight the Nightmare was all he needed to know that this message was true, and a dire warning. Already disheartened by this message, upon returning to the monks with the latest sword key, it was discovered the last blade would be in the feywild, and he was bid to enter a portal that would send any native back as long as they were not banished or exiled. Though hesitant to enter due to the message from Luminace, he stepped in anyways...and was transported nowhere. This hasn't broken Dawn completely yet, for the team is now traveling to a natural portal to the feywild, and he has the guidance from the Unicorn Queen that this will lead to something important. Closure, damnation, explanation...he doesn't know, and that frightens him more than the thought that he might have been exiled from his home. For now, he's following through on the mission, but the mystery of why haunts him, and is suppressing his usually cheerful demeanor. Appearance Despite his compact size and otherworldly origins, Dawn carries a regal air about him; the good posture and economical movements of a trained warrior combined with the effervescent charisma of a noble lord entertaining his friends. Like all pixies of his grove his face is well defined and clean-shaven, sporting a Greek nose with an almost shy grin sneaking out beneath it and a glint of curiosity in his wide viridian eyes. His shortened deep magenta hair is perpetually windswept--though from his wings or simply from the magic of his homeland is unknown. Among the tapered fade cut of his hair are random blackened tips, residual coloring indicating he sprung from the pitahaya fruit flower. And while faerie skin colors can range across the flower spectrum, he emerged with an almost Mediterranean golden olive tone that makes him stand out among his own kind.as it's a striking but...normal coloration. Though his body is very lithe there is defined muscle, almost like that of a swimmer, due to his constant flying and over fifty years training and honing his body at Summerweir Monastary. This is most obvious in his arms, as the forest green gi lacks sleeves. The gi itself billows gently, most likely from the flutter of his wings, though never in a hindrance to his flight or martial skill. Above the neckline lies the obsidian torc resting comfortably against his neck, appearing almost as a thin dark collar with just the faintest hint of gold threaded through it. A close examination of the two terminals would reveal that both have been carved into unicorn heads, their horns seemingly aimed for his jugulars. Rather than flare out beneath a belt, the gi is tucked into dark cocoa colored leather trousers. Though seeming like ordinary leather at first glance, the material is literal bark-leather, made out of fey tree bark to imitate the texture and toughness of animal hide, though it offers little to no protection as armor, its silent toughness helps lessen blows during training at the Monastery. Less than a few centimeters above the ankle the leggings stop, and until recently has ended with his feet completely bare as he rarely walks on any surface. However, he has recently decided to update his appearance slightly. Mortals, it appeared, wore footwear and some warriors seemed to at least partially cover their hands. Collecting a series of scales from a recently deceased bronze dragon they had interacted with, he decided to make some cosmetic coverings to fit in a little more. With pixie dust and judicious, clever use of druidcraft he has melded the scales into aesthetic armor mimicking the coverings of his mortal companions. Two of the scales he kept normal sized, melted and bent until two could fit them around his arms almost like bracers. With shrunken scales he melded one flaring out that covers the back of his hand, leaving his knuckles and fingers free. The remaining scales he fashioned into half-greaves, scales trailing from the top of his foot--with the same single flaring scale just short of his toes--ending halfway up his shin, held in place by a half scale that wraps around his ankle covering his tendon but not his heel. All of them have been given a dull shine, hopefully matching the coloration of radiant energy he can launch with his training from the Way of the Sun. Quirks *While resting, Dawn tends to juggle his Dancing Lights as a form of meditation and relaxation *Dawn has a different understanding of personal space, and will often land upon random teammates resting or traveling *The name "Tiamat" causes Dawn to reflexively hiss; this is a recent development and he has no idea why it's happening *Since receiving the message from Luminace, he keeps a copy of her message book with him to study, along with a figurine of the Unicorn Queen for guidance Leveling Details * At level 3, Dawn chose the Path of the Sun, and gained the ability to use ranged Sun Bolts instead of his usual unarmed strikes * At level 4, thanks to meeting the Unicorn Queen, Dawn ended up imbued by a touch of her power, and has gained some Cleric traits, such as the Thaumaturgy cantrip and a healing spell Secrets of Summerweir * Dawn has mentioned that some of the walls whisper at the monastery, but only one room actually lies * The monastery is sealed and protected from everything beyond the walls, yet is open to the sky * The mentors of Summerweir are powerful creatures able to strike down a dragon with a word and keep even archfey's magic from penetrating their barriers ** Dawn is so fearful of the mentors that he won't say what they are, for fear he would be struck down even across the worlds